Real Madrid and Barcelona stars absent from Marca ceremony

In a special annual ceremony, the Spanish newspaper "Marca" announced the winners of the best awards in the Spanish League for the 2023-2024 season, in a reserved atmosphere mourning the victims of the flood disaster in Valencia. The ceremony witnessed a rare absence of Real Madrid and Barcelona stars. The ceremony was headlined by Artem Dovbyk, the Ukrainian striker for Girona, who won the "Pichichi" award as the top scorer in the Spanish League after scoring 24 goals, breaking the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona players over the award that lasted for 14 years. Dovbyk moved to Roma in Italy at the beginning of the current season. Alvaro Morata and Borja Mayoral were also honored, as they shared the award for the best Spanish scorer in La Liga with 15 goals each. Despite Morata's head injury that prevented him from attending the ceremony, Mayoral accepted the award on his behalf. In the goalkeeper category, Unai Simón won the Zamora Trophy for the best goalkeeper in the league, becoming the first Athletic Bilbao keeper to win the award in 54 years, after conceding 33 goals in 36 games. The Miguel Muñoz Trophy for best coach went to Girona's Míchel Sánchez, who led the team to their first ever Champions League qualification. The Most Valuable Award went to Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, in recognition of his achievement in leading the team to the European Championship title last summer. The ceremony concluded with a tribute to Isco Alarcón, the Real Betis star, who won the fans' award after being named man of the match 18 times last season, despite his injury which kept him out of the European Championship. The ceremony was held amidst an atmosphere of sadness and sympathy for the victims of the floods in Valencia, while a number of prominent Real Madrid and Barcelona stars were absent from the event.